The Traitor
by Miss-Inquisitive-Sci-fi
Summary: Sequel to 'The Eureka Project'. Weeks later Q and M are still healing from the wounds they suffered at the hands of their abductors, mentally and physically. They face a continued threat in their search for a traitor within MI6 itself, with only a handful of allies will they be able to root out the mole and finally discover who the shadowy organisation behind everything is?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - This is the sequel to my first Bond story, 'The Eureka project'. I would recommend reading that first for this to make sense.**

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Q's trembling hand hovered over the call symbol; his eyes flicked to to the time and saw it was the middle of the night. He had developed a bout of insomnia and had real problems trying to sleep these days. His mind flashed with unwanted images which made Q's decision for him, he needed to hear that he was okay. He pressed the button firmly and held the phone to his ear, already regretting the action but knowing he had to do this. He had promised he would after all.

Two rings until the phone was answered. "Hello, I'm here."

Q released the pent up tension and smiled genuinely when he heard the familiar voice. He could relax now that he knew his nightmare had been just that, Mallory was alive and well.

"I didn't wake you did I?" Q asked guiltily as his gaze swept over London at night from his flat window.

Q heard someone shift on the other end of the line followed by a warm chuckle. "It wouldn't have mattered if you did, you know our agreement. But no, I was already up."

The agreement that M spoke of was something that the pair had been bullied into by Bond and Moneypenny. It was clear after the traumatic events of their kidnapping that they were both going to suffer repercussions for some time. One of those repercussions became apparent when Q had panic attacks after a flashback episode; when he couldn't get a hold of or see that Mallory was alright. They had been manageable when they shared a hospital room but not once they were separated. Q and M had shared an incredibly damaging experience so it was no wonder they were having separation issues, all it took now was to hear the other's voice to alleviate concerns of death.

Q knew it wasn't healthy, hell his therapist had said as much but he couldn't help or stop the anxiety attack by himself. Even James had failed to get through to him the first time it happened. He had felt like he was drowning again, unable to get his breath his panicked eyes had darted for familiarity and only saw images of John… He had soon passed out after the lack of oxygen caused his body to shut down. When he woke he was met by several worried faces and was soon whisked back towards trained medics.

The agreement was born after Q got checked out; he and M had been living at home recovering for three weeks now. The nightmares were usually a daily occurrence and even though Q hated calling the first few times he had to admit the panic subsided as soon as M picked up the phone, M had even called the quartermaster once or twice. They were both struggling. Q imagined his reactions were more severe because he actually watched M die, he had those memories. Each time Q woke in alarm from the nightmares he would make his way out to the kitchen, make a cup of early grey and dial M. The amount of time it took for him to calm down from the effects of the attack had lessened over time, but the guilt over waking Mallory up had not.

M had argued that it was far more important that Q got real rest over M's sleep, after all Q was the one searching endlessly for the mole. It became quite clear after a few hours of working on the search that the mole was technically complement, this pushed the task of catching the mole firmly into Q's hands. Bond, Mallory nor Moneypenny had any chance with computers. He, M and James had agreed to let Eve in on the mole within MI6.

They were loathe to tell another person but they all agreed that they trusted Moneypenny with their lives, that and it had become clear that the mole knew his existence had been discovered. James could look after Q full time away from the office and so they needed somebody to cover M's back. Mallory hadn't been happy with the suggestion at first but eventually relented when he realised it was happening whether he liked or not, Eve moved in that night so Q and M had constant backup. It's not like M and Q had been fully recovered then either, they just didn't want to be sitting ducks within MI6 and had frankly become sick of being in the sterile medical room.

Three weeks later Q found his movements less stiff, he still had dressings over the majority of his chest and his ribs would take some time to heal but the pain from moving reduced each day. He was slowly healing. Mallory's recovery had been slower, M had lung problems and a horrible rattling in his chest when he breathed for a week. The sustained drowning sessions were to blame, it was even touch and go for a while if the liquid would clear before pneumonia set in. M had gotten lucky though and the wheezing had reduced to almost nothing if he didn't have to speak a lot.

Q had been able to get back to work far sooner, much to the chagrin of James, as all he needed was access to a laptop to get started. They had argued it out for a while before James grudgingly admitted that they wouldn't be safe until the mole was found and the quickest way to do that was for Q to get going.

The quartermaster had started erecting specific security traps around sensitive files so that he would be notified if a pattern was noticed internally, after setting all the traps he was disappointed to find that no-one was going any where near classified information. They quickly deduced that the mole knew he was being monitored, either by being told or by coming across one of Q's traps and not setting it off. Q spent a week improving the security around all files and once satisfied realised that he wouldn't find the mole this way. He was too clever to walk directly into the line of fire.

The benefit of the traps however was that not only could the mole not get new information without being found out, he also couldn't erase any past mistakes or trails. Q took on the difficult job of trawling back through years and years of data, hoping to find something that the mole had slipped up on when he hadn't been so careful. It was slow progress but Q felt he was getting close, so much so that he hated it every time James forcibly dragged him away from work to sleep. The last thing he wanted to do was sleep; when he slept all he saw was horror.

Q was startled out of his thoughts when M spoke up, they had been connected in silence for a few minutes whilst Q's anxiety levels dropped. "Do you want to talk about it?"

_No._

Q never wanted to talk about it; he would rather the whole thing was blotted from his mind but that wasn't going to happen any time soon. He decided to be honest this time. "Not really."

He closed his eyes and revelled in the sound of Mallory's gentle laughter fill his ear. He was glad then that he had made the phone call, his chest was no longer tight and his breathing was normal. Anxiety attack averted.

"Maybe I should have someone check on you, honesty isn't usually your first instinct."

Q smiled, M was not wrong. He had been a bloody nightmare with his therapist he was aware. If Q had his way he wouldn't have a therapist but it was mandatory, even James had insisted on the meetings.

A sudden noise in the kitchen had Q on edge again; he whipped round towards the sound startled. His eyes found James and he immediately let the tension leave his body, and it was then he heard Mallory's urgent calls over the phone.

"Q? Are you alright?"

"Sorry M, it's just James. He startled me." Q smiled warmly as the agent mouthed an apology and continued with his task to make two cup's of tea.

Every night Q retreated to the living room. James would give it 5 minutes and then follow and ensure Q was doing okay, the first couple of times Bond had almost given Q a heart attack by unknowingly sneaking up on the pre-occupied quartermaster. He was frighteningly aware that James could sneak up on him without him ever hearing, especially after an anxiety attack when his mind was distant. James now made sure to make as much as noise as he could all the way from the bedroom to the kitchen, the last thing he wanted to do was actually have to touch Q to get his attention; that had ended disastrously the first time.

Q realised he must have been really out of it if James had managed to get all the way to the kitchen and was making them both tea before he heard anything, he was a tad jumpy tonight.

"Thank him for almost giving me a heart attack." Mallory dead-panned; Q could pick up the relief in his friend's voice.

Q continued to watch as James made their drinks and caught his partner's eye. "Oh I will M."

James picked up on the dangerous tone immediately and straightened up looking directly at Q, he recognised the promise in Q's words. A smirk spread over the agent's face only proving to infuriate his quartermaster even further. _That bloody smirk._

He watched fondly as James picked up the cups and joined Q on the sofa silently, happy to just offer his presence as support. Q appreciated the company, it's the final touch that drives off the demons in his mind. Q takes the proffered cup and sipped on the perfectly made drink, Bond had really perfected the blend. It was still strange seeing James here every night, the pair had been in a relationship of sorts but they still had separate flats. They had never thought of living together and now that they did Q wondered why they didn't do this months ago. Bond had moved all of his stuff in immediately after the threat on Q's life, he imagined the agent wouldn't leave even after the threat was dealt with. The quartermaster hoped he was right as he had grown used to James living with him, he liked it.

Q was drawn back to the phone in his hand as he heard clattering on the other end. "Are you alone?"

"No Eve is with me, she makes tea." Came the instant reply.

Q smiled at the information, he and Mallory had two very astute agents. Whenever he or M were on the phone, Bond would always appear at the right moment and make tea. Suddenly a suspicious thought crossed his mind and he glanced over at Bond who met his scrutinising gaze with an innocent smile. Were Eve and Bond coordinating them?

"Do you think Eve and Bond coordinate?" He kept his eyes on James who didn't give anything away, the agent continued smiling innocently and sipped his tea in silence.

"It's entirely possible." Mallory conceded after some thought.

Q looked from James' tea to his own and a worrying thought raced through his mind. "What if they drug the tea?"

James burst out laughing and ended up spilling his own drink down his sleep top, Q heard Malory's bark of laughter from the phone as well. His paranoia disappeared as he too started laughing at his own crazy thoughts, he put it down to lack of sleep.

When M had gotten control of his outburst he replied. "Q, that's a bit far-fetched even for you."

Q smirked as James scowled at the spillage, he watched happily as the agent fetched a tea towel to clean up the impromptu mess. "Perhaps…"

Mallory clearly caught the lack of seriousness in his tone and left the conversation there. Q's eyes flicked to the clock and winced as he realised how little sleep he had gotten so far, the bags under his eyes were a permanent feature these days. He was just so damn tired. He realised that M was waiting on him, another one of their rules. Whoever initiated the phone call had to end it, that way the other would know when things were okay to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow M."

"Take care Q." Came the immediate reply.

Q ended the call and reached for the remainder of his tea, not before throwing a suspicious glance at James who had settled next to him again. Bond only smiled when he saw the glare and shook his head in amusement. The pair sat in companionable silence as they both finished their drinks, Q felt his eyes drooping as he drained the cup.

Bond didn't miss the sign. "Do you want to come back to bed?"

Q closed his eyes painfully at the thought, he actually feared going to sleep now. Every night without fail he would have horrible nightmares and flashbacks, he was terrified of losing control and to be frank didn't want to relive his torment if he could help it. It was just a pain that the body needed so much sleep, he felt exhausted and run down as it was.

He fought down the irrational panic over the thought of mere sleep. "I don't think I can face sleep at the moment."

Q opened his eyes to look at James, expecting pity or a similar expression. Bond had a smirk plastered over his face however, "Who said anything about sleep?"

The quartermaster's eyebrows rose in disbelief, James could be a randy git sure but it was the last thing Q had been expecting. He smiled when he recognised Bond's attempts to take his mind off his fears. "You're unbelievable you know?"

James gaze softened. "I know."

The agent pulled Q into a sideways hug, Q found himself leaning into the comfort without really thinking about it. Leaning against James' chest he felt himself relax as he heard the steady heartbeat, it distracted him from his dark memories. Q felt his eyes begin to close again and James clearly felt his muscles weaken so he manoeuvred himself to help Q up. "Come on lets get you to bed, we can talk if you don't want to sleep."

Q allowed himself to be lifted upwards and leaned against the solid support as James lead them to the safety of the bedroom. "Thank you, James."

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**A/N - Until next time...**


	2. Chapter 2

Mallory dropped his pen and groaned loudly. He slowly began to work some feeling back into his writing hand and cast a weary eye to the time. He groaned even louder as he saw it was still early, he had only been in the office for a few hours but it already felt like it should be home time. That was the biggest change since the kidnapping, he felt exhausted and drained all the time. Many people including Eve and the medical staff said he should have taken more time off to recover, the problem was that M was needed and they still had a traitor to find. Q had to be in the building to be patched into the network and if Q was here then M would be at work too. Bond and Eve had called them both bloody stubborn idiots but had allowed the foolishness to continue under supervision, they had a mole to catch and none of them were safe until they did.

M stretched his cramped muscles and got to his feet, he couldn't face sitting down in the chair for longer than a couple of hours without a break. Another side effect of the ordeal. He paced around the room slowly as feeling returned to his legs. M grimaced and grunted when his sore ribs got jostled, he deliberately tried to keep his movements slight and slow to avoid too much pain but it was difficult. Mostly though he felt stiff. His ribs were still bandaged tightly as they slowly healed, he still had stitches covering most of his body and his wrists were very tender. He glanced down at the scars the zip ties had left, just another set for the collection.

At least his breathing had improved, for a long time he couldn't talk without causing agony to his lungs and chest. The rattling and wheezing decreased with time however and bar any extraneous activity they didn't bother him. He and Q were confined to desk duty, not that that was any different to their normal jobs anyway.

He finished his small break and wearily made his way back to the desk, stopping along the way as he noticed the pot of tea on the edge of the desk. He smiled as he remembered Eve bringing it in when he was drowning in conference calls, he honestly didn't know what he would have done without moneypenny. When Q, Bond and Eve had first proposed the suggestion of her guarding him he had all stared at them as if they'd gone mad, he was not someone who freely admitted to needing help or protection. He was pretty much bullied into the arrangement after it was made clear he would not be leaving medical without someone watching over him at night. He had really wanted to get home, from a security point of view as well as a comfort one. So he started resenting Moneypenny as soon as she moved her things in, scowling at the idea of having somebody else in his space.

Their first car ride home together had been tense. Eve had shocked him when they reached their destination though, he had assumed the women would have tried to baby him when he struggled with the steps. Moneypenny did nothing of the kind, she waited patiently as Mallory struggled up the stairs in pain. Eventually they dragged themselves across the threshold and M saw the knowing smile on his new roommate's face, she told him that a bodyguard was not the same as a babysitter and that she was there as neither. She was there as a friend and as a trained field agent. Mallory sat back silently as he looked at Eve in a new light, he had misjudged her completely. Moneypenny was not only smart but she knew people. She knew what they needed and most importantly what they didn't need. Gareth apologised for his mood and asked to start again, Eve had beamed happily and laughed. Mallory had never heard such a beautiful laugh.

And so it started, their routine. The pair would wake up in the morning, whoever was up first would make coffee and they would both sit quietly together and eat breakfast. Eve usually read her book first thing whilst Mallory read the paper, he caught himself once or twice staring at her over the top of the paper. Each morning he would grow more used to her being there and he had to admit he enjoyed sharing the day with someone, he liked not being alone. They rode to work together, got through the day somehow and returned to their little world in Mallory's apartment. To think M had argued against Eve shadowing him; now he couldn't imagine his normal life without her.

He sat down at his desk again and smiled fondly on the memories he had with Eve. Another unlikely but pleasant skill was that Moneypenny was an excellent cook. Mallory wanted to help the first week back but Eve wouldn't have any of it, she had actually threatened to sedate him just to keep him off his feet like the Doctors had ordered. It was a battle of wills but Eve had won. Eventually and very slowly he managed to worm his way back into the kitchen, soon they were both cooking together in tandem. He marvelled each night at the way they worked side by side in perfect harmony. It was peaceful and it helped take Mallory's mind off the flashbacks.

Gareth began to love each moment he spent with Eve, it distracted him from the danger he and MI6 were still in. It was nice to live like a normal person even if it were for just a small time. He had panicked the first time he woke from a nightmare, he made his way to the kitchen to shake off the effects. He had been startled at first when Eve followed him out, then he had felt embarrassed. Moneypenny didn't say a word though, she just flicked the kettle on and made them both a cup of tea silently.

The pair sat at the breakfast bar sipping on their drinks as the tension in Mallory's posture uncoiled and his breathing returned to normal, potential panic attack over. He could remember staring at her the first time he was interrupted, his shields and defences up as he waited for the bombardment of inevitable questions. It was going to be like those damn therapy sessions… But the questions never came. She would just sit and smile at him.

Gareth knew then and there that he was falling in love with his assistant, he had never known anyone who understood him like she did. Eve realised that Mallory didn't need questions, he needed company. Some nights M would phone Q, sometimes he and Eve would talk. Either way Moneypenny was adept at seeing what he needed each night and was just simply there, never complaining about the time, never mentioning the late nights the next day. She was completely selfless and it was winning M's heart.

Mallory didn't think he would be coping as well as he was without Eve, having her around made the nightmares easier to deal with. He didn't feel lonely like he feared he would. Also it was nice to think someone else had his back who was proficient with a gun, he felt safe with Eve. Q had Bond, M had Moneypenny.

Mallory picked up his pen again with a loud sigh and went back to his reports, he was getting more depressed as time wore on. He knew Q was getting close to finding the mole and whilst the thought should fill him with happiness it strangely didn't. Without the threat then there would be no need for Eve to stick around and he didn't want to lose her company, she had a life after all. _Probably._ He frowned as he realised he didn't know much about Moneypenny's personal life, maybe he should ask her tonight over dinner.

He was alert immediately as he heard Q's notification sound coming from his phone, the quartermaster had sent him a text. Q didn't text him at work which meant this was either a breakthrough or something equally important. M dropped his pen and swapped it for the phone, unlocking it and finding a message from Q.

_Found mole. Meet me in basement labs. Bond already here. Q_

Mallory got to his feet hurriedly as he re-read the message. The news was indeed urgent and was the breakthrough they all needed. M swept the disappointment about Eve aside and focussed on the job in hand; they had a traitor to catch. He opened his drawer and picked up his pistol, he didn't usually carry one around MI6 but this was a special situation. With his gun holstered firmly in place he made his way out of the office to Q.

He frowned as he noticed Eve's absence in the outer office, he would have liked to invite her along for this but she clearly had got caught up somewhere. At least they had Bond, M's concerns died as he remembered the text. Bond was already with Q and who better to protect the quartermaster than a 00 agent.

Mallory made his way promptly to the agreed meeting location, Q must have made the area safe from surveillance and it would definitely be quiet down there, it always was. M's mind raced as he the enormity of the situation became apparent, they were about to plan to apprehend the mole. Hopefully they could finally get some answers from the traitor like who their mysterious employer was and what their endgame was.

M grimaced when he jarred his ribs having to sidestep someone coming out of an office, he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going. Mallory nodded politely to anyone he passed and smiled when a few employees did a double take when he passed, he hadn't made a trip through Q branch or the laboratories since before he was kidnapped. The amount of foot traffic depleted to nothing as he neared the laboratory Q had specified, that was good. The last thing they needed was anyone thinking anything was wrong before the traitor was safely arrested.

Gareth eventually made it to his destination and opened the door gently, hand hovering near his shoulder holster and ready for anything. He winced as the door squeaked slightly but continued pressing it open slowly. He stepped silently into the bright lab scanning the area with a critical eye. He couldn't see Q. Mallory's instincts weren't telling him anything was wrong with the situation, he let the door shut silently behind him and took a few more steps into the lab his eyes scanning over the equipment and computers keenly.

He gripped the handle of his weapon as he made the decision to call out. "Q?"

M had to stop himself from drawing the pistol as a head suddenly popped out from behind a computer terminal towards the back of the room, he recognised the face instantly and let out a breath of relief. Mallory relaxed his stance and took his hand away from the weapon, all appeared as it should. Except…

_Where was Bond?_

Mallory's gaze carried out another scan of the room and after finding no other presence decided that the 00 agent was definitely not in the room, had he already gone off after the traitor? Q had abandoned his post at the computer, and was walking towards M quite pointedly looking over his shoulder as if he were expecting someone to enter behind M.

"Where's 007?" M broke through the tension as Q continued his search over Mallory's shoulder.

Gareth felt a sense of unease begin to grow after seeing the quartermaster's reaction, his features were scrunched up with confusion. "Didn't you bring him with you?"

Now Mallory was confused, had he read the message wrong? "Your message said he was already here."

Q tensed immediately and his expression turned very serious, his eyes flashed with fear. "I didn't send you a message."

_Shit._

M's stomach plummeted as his brain caught up, this was a trap. He heard the door behind him opening before he had begun to turn. His hand desperately snatched for the still-holstered pistol knowing deep down that it was futile, they'd both been duped spectacularly. M had just about turned around and had his hand on the handle of his gun when the attack came.

A sharp piercing pain slammed into his stomach and for a heartbeat he thought he'd been shot, that was until he lost all control of his body as the spasms took over. Burning electricity raced from nerve to nerve throughout his whole body, he felt himself lose the battle with gravity and tumble towards the ground as a deadly crackle echoed through the room. He bit his tongue harshly and tasted blood as he crumpled into a heap, body twitching and convulsing when the licks of the flames danced across his body. As soon as it started it was over and it was then when he felt the pain.

Mallory realised he had been yelling and he had definitely cried out as his still healing body collided hard with the unforgiving ground, he panted with his eyes closed as he fought to keep the agony under control. His muscles felt like they were on fire and the experience was bringing back unpleasant memories from the past. He trembled with the aftershocks and fought off the demons when the loud retort of a gunshot ripped him from the fog around his mind.

M blearily opened his eyes and he felt adrenaline flood his system after the familiar sounds of danger, it was then he remembered he hadn't been alone in the lab. Q was in danger. He was alarmed as he heard a cry of pain and the sound of a body drop to the floor, without really thinking and purely acting on instinct his hand darted for his weapon again.

His eyes found the traitor and noted the smoking gun in his hand pointing at exactly where Q had been standing; this time he managed to get the weapon clear of the holster before the taser stopped his movements brutally again. His muscles spasmed and he distantly felt the pistol tumble from his useless fingers, their last line of defence gone.

M rode out the electric shock begging for it to be over, every spasm sent of jolt of agony to his ribs and made his heart ache painfully. Mercifully the torture ended and he felt pure relief as he was allowed to breathe in precious oxygen in short breaths. He groaned as his attempts to shift only ended in misery, he couldn't get control of his twitching muscles to do anything useful. Mallory forced his eyes open when he heard Q gasps and swearing.

His eyes sought the quartermaster and widened in shock as he saw his friend sprawled out on the ground with a pool of blood growing steadily around him, the bastard had actually shot Q. M's fingers fingered the empty holster and groaned as he realised he had dropped the weapon under the last attack. His eyes desperately searched the surrounding area for the dropped pistol, he found what he was looking for in the hands of the traitor.

Mallory shuddered as he realised the hopelessness of the situation, they had been well and truly played. He sought the man's face and felt his mouth go dry when he saw who was pointing a gun down at him, a gun and a taser. They had made a small list of possible moles and potentially untrustworthy people, this man hadn't made it onto the list. It didn't make sense, how could R do something like this? The traitor standing over M brandishing a deadly weapon without a hint of remorse in his eyes was Q's second in command. He was supposed to be Q's friend and he had shot him.

M gaped up at R in disbelief and felt unimaginable rage for the man who Q had called a friend, thinking of Q was like being slapped out of the trance.

"Q." His voice sounded raspy and panicked.

The quartermaster responded with a grunt of pain and turned his head so he could see M, Mallory felt a tiny bit of relief when he saw Q's brilliant eyes. They were full of misery and torment but they were aware. He saw then that the quartermaster had been shot in his right shoulder, Q was gripping his shoulder strongly his fingers and hand already covered in blood that had soaked through his clothes. M couldn't see from this angle if the bleeding was slowing or if the bullet had torn through an artery, shoulders could be a messy business.

They were both wrenched from each other's gaze as they heard the lock on the door being manipulated. R had walked away without either of them noticing, after the traitor appeared happy with the security and was content nobody was in the vicinity he headed back towards the two men hurting on the floor. Mallory forced his body to remain still as a gun was levelled at both his and Q's heads, R could kill them both right now and nobody could stop him. He glanced down at his chest as a sharp pain made itself aware, he soon spied the ends of the taser. The spikes had embedded themselves into his chest and they pulled at his skin when he breathed, it was clearly how R had delivered the second electrocution so quickly to stop M drawing his weapon.

"You?!" Q spat with an unprecedented level of malice.

M closed his eyes in a silent prayer, Q really was not good at choosing when and when not to speak. Here they were at the mercy of a man with presumably nothing left to lose and Q was inviting a heated argument. He watched warily as R turned his full attention to the bleeding quartermaster and started to stalk towards his injured prey.

"Yes, me." R sneered nastily, _christ_ this was clearly personal for him. "Did you think your friendship meant anything to me?"

Mallory could see that the harsh comment had left its mark on Q when the young man flinched minutely, soon rage replaced the expression and he did something ridiculously stupid. "I hardly thought you capable, there is a reason you didn't become head of Q branch."

R tensed his muscles as the taunt found it's mark; the traitor took the last few steps towards Q and viciously kicked Q's right shoulder right on top of the gunshot wound. Q screamed in agony as the blow hit which surged M to try and get up to help.

R clearly heard the movement and quickly aimed a pistol directly at Mallory's head, halting his elevation in its tracks. M tensed as R remained too close to Q, close enough to do the quartermaster harm.

"I was better than you." R hissed vengefully down at the writhing Q.

Mallory realised he had to think of something quickly to get the bastard's attention off of Q, and the only bright idea that sprung into his mind was to copy Q.

"You were never in the running to take over Q branch." He knew he had got R's attention as he saw the man's posture stiffen. "You didn't even make it on to the short list."

R turned dangerously slowly and directed his fury onto Mallory, great now he had the attention now he had to just get him away from Q. M pushed harder without really thinking his plan through.

"You have no integrity, only average intelligence and you're a coward." M made it all up on the spot as he watched R stomp closer to him, pistol raised dangerously. If he could get the man to trip up and get too close then he could try and disarm him.

"You're a disgrace to the service and nothing more than a spineless traitor." Mallory tensed his body in preparation as R got almost within striking distance. Just as was about to strike out with his leg his muscles lost control.

The bloody taser, how had he forgotten about the taser? He lost track of R completely as his body twitched against the currents, his breath caught in his throat and he forgot how to breathe. He had thought he was going to make R make a mistake but he had only brought pain and suffering down upon his already abused body. His only saving grace was that this was happening to him and not Q.

Mallory thought it would never stop, he was so close to slipping away and actually passing out from the agony when his body finally ceased convulsing, the fire stopped spreading. He didn't even have a chance to open his eyes before a heavy blow smashed into his head and his world turned dark.


	3. Chapter 3

Q had just about managed to clear the pain away after his brutal assault only to witness R's boot smash mercilessly into Mallory's head, he winced as he saw M go still and lose consciousness. Q held his breath as R reached down towards M, what if the madman wasn't content with the damage already wrought? The traitor grabbed a hold of the taser spikes and ripped them violently from M's chest, Q could see the nasty puncture marks and the blood seeping through Mallory's dress shirt. The quartermaster felt guilty as hell as his eyes were drawn to the nasty gash on the side of M's head, the one R had just brutally inflicted. Mallory had drawn R's attention away from him because he just couldn't resist being a smart-ass; the violent treatment M had just received was meant for him.

Q breathed out a sigh of relief as R finished his search of M's body and moved away to deposit the man's belongings on a nearby table. He heard a moan escape his lips as his shoulder flared up again, and he felt more blood trickle between his fingers and suddenly felt very light headed. How had James always walked off gunshot wounds? They were bloody awful.

Q opened his eyes again and tensed as he heard footsteps heading towards him. He watched warily as R made his way to Q's defenceless position, the gun pointed firmly down at his chest. Q didn't move. R crouched down so he was eye level and met Q's gaze, he could see that his old friend looked different; calmer, clinical, _detached_. Suddenly R hauled Q upright and pushed him back against a filing cabinet until the quartermaster was sitting up, Q hissed against the pain and valiantly fought off the encroaching darkness.

He couldn't hold his tongue when R actually started poking and prodding at the wound; he allowed a strangled cry to escape his lips. His shoulder felt like it had been set alight. Q groaned as the traitor attempted to pry his hand off the wound, but he fought to keep his hand in place knowing he might bleed out otherwise.

"Let me look at it." R growled impatiently.

Q finally relented as the agony of his shoulder shifting under the struggle became too much, he allowed his old friend to look at the wound he had inflicted. Q scolded himself as he realised what he had just called R; the man had clearly never been his friend. Q let his head thump back against the cabinet as R's inspection sent shockwaves of misery through his body.

"The bleedings slowing, I'm going to wrap it."

Q barely paid attention as R busied himself finding some bandages from a nearby first aid kit. He was soon back and the quartermaster watched detachedly as R applied basic gauze, padding and finished off the treatment by wrapping a bandage over the blood-soaked pad tightly. Q breathed deeply throughout the procedure to ensure he didn't black out, when the bandage was tightened it took all of his strength to not collapse there and then.

He looked at R as the man wiped Q's blood off his hands, why on earth was he giving him medical attention after doing this in the first place? "Why patch me up?"

R simply stared down at Q, gaze void of emotion. "I need you alive."

R had already moved away from Q's seated position, and was replacing the bloodied packaging in the first aid kit. Q snorted as he heard the answer, he then thought he might be a tad delirious from the blood loss. "Then why shoot me?"

R shot him an incredulous look, one of the looks that made someone feel small as if the answer was obvious. "You were going for the computer, I couldn't afford to have you alert anyone."

Q mulled over the information and supposed the answer made sense, although how R planned to keep this madness a secret for much longer was a mystery. It was true the location had been well planned out, the gunshot wouldn't have caused any alarms as the R&D team frequently tested equipment in the basement. Q's brain kept falling to one thing though, Bond would find him. James would become worried at the quartermaster's absence and after failing to answer phone calls would come looking, he imagined Mallory would probably be missed sooner by Eve. It was only a matter of time. How much time did R think he had brought by shooting Q?

Q watched warily when R moved over to the computer Q had been heading for, he was most probably checking Q hadn't tampered with anything or got a message out. After a brief satisfactory check R suddenly stalked back over to Q's seated position, seemingly remembering something important. Q tried not to flinch as the pistol was aimed at his head, he almost didn't hear when the traitor demanded Q's phone and told him to empty his pockets. He had completely forgotten about his phone.

The quartermaster painfully reached into his pockets and handed them over to R's waiting hands, smearing blood over all the items as he went making him feel really queasy all of a sudden. He watched absently as R placed his phone next to Mallory's, those bloody phones. Q felt so stupid that he had listened to the text without checking with M, they had been too paranoid to talk on the phone incase anyone overheard so they assumed their texts were safe. Q had underestimated R entirely. The betrayal hurt, Q vowed not to show it.

"Lift him up." R motioned with his gun to M who hadn't stirred once since he had been kicked.

Q blinked away the fog in his mind as the words filtered through, surely he was imagining things. Couldn't R see he barely had the strength to pull himself up let alone M. Any thoughts about making a wise-ass comment went out the window as R's face grew angry, Q wouldn't make the same mistake again. M had already paid for his last stupid outburst.

Q blocked out the agony and slowly made his way to his feet using his good shoulder and the desk for leverage. He felt unbelievably dizzy for a few seconds and had to stand deadly still to stop himself from simply tumbling to the ground again; he swallowed down the nausea and focussed his energy on moving towards M's prone body.

He began to walk stiffly over to Mallory and watched warily as R gathered two chairs from the back, and dragged them to stand near the computer away from the door. Q understood where he was supposed to be lifting Mallory too now. The Quartermaster gritted his teeth and gently gripped M's shoulders mindful to not injure his friend further.

Q slowly dragged M's body towards the chairs as gently as he could manage; he guiltily looked down into his friend's face as he watched blood dripping from the fresh wound. As if M didn't have enough injuries to deal with, he still hadn't finished healing from their last ordeal. A sharp twinge in Q's ribs helpfully informed him that neither had he; he felt so stiff and every pull at his shoulder was like liquid fire. Just a little further…

He finally made it over to the chairs grunting under the strain, and he could already feel blood trickling out from under the bandage R had tied for him. Q looked up at R who was waiting patiently beside the chairs pistol trained on the pair without a flash of remorse crossing his features.

_He really doesn't care about what he's done._

"Put him on the chair." R directed stiffly completely unsympathetic to Q's gasping breaths.

Q glared up at R and bit his tongue to stop some very colourful words from tumbling out. He steeled himself for the agony and cried out as he took Mallory's weight on his shoulders; he managed to haul M's still body up and into the chair without passing out. Just. The important thing was that Mallory's body didn't receive any more bruises or abuse, he imagined if R had done it then it would have been a different story. The man was proving to be callous.

When Q stood up he felt his world spin sharply and his vision darkened suddenly at the edges, the exertion was clearly too much for his head. He felt himself stumble towards the empty chair for support and fought the entire way there for consciousness. His shoulder was burning. He was abruptly aware of a body near his and turned on instinct. Q didn't see much when he spun, only the descending metal gun moving too quickly towards his face. He distantly felt his nose and face erupt in an explosion of pain before nothing. Q fell happily into the awaiting darkness where the misery promised to leave him be.

* * *

Mallory as it turned out was the first to awaken, a repetitive tapping sound echoed around his skull forcing his mind to wake up. He groaned quietly as the pounding in his head reached a crescendo, R's kick had been powerful. His hearing returned first, next his taste as he sensed an awful coppery flavour. He knew immediately it was blood and realised he must have bitten his tongue at some point; reacting to the offending material he spit the nauseating substance out of his mouth.

M felt a shiver run through his body and his muscles all ached, he reasoned it was probably the after effects of the taser. Mallory finally opened his eyes and glanced down at his chest quickly, hoping the damned thing wasn't still attached to his chest. He let out a sigh of relief as he noticed it's absence but frowned at the duct tape wound around his chest. He quickly saw the same adhesive holding his arms in place, and after experimentally trying to move his legs discovered they were also bound. He was tied to a chair in the exact same way as…

_Don't think about that… It won't help you or Q._

Gareth shook away the damaging flashbacks and focussed on the present. What was important now was to assess the situation. He obviously wasn't dead so R needed him alive for something, and Q. Mallory only had to glance to his left to see the quartermaster he was bound on a chair next to him.

Henry was still unconscious and M fought down the anger he felt when he saw all the blood. Q's face was plastered with the sticky substance all originating from his nose which looked broken. His eyes drifted to the more serious wound, and he felt a small amount of relief that the wound had been bandaged and appeared to have stopped bleeding. Q would not die from the injuries any time soon but that would not stop the pain and effects of blood loss; the quartermaster did look incredibly pale which was a stark contrast to the blood. M sympathised the pain Q would be in when he returned to the land of the living, and he doubted R had given his old friend any painkillers.

Now that he knew Q was alive the assessment continued to their surroundings. The tapping sound that had woken M was soon sourced to a keyboard at a nearby desk, at the desk was R who looked rather busy. The traitor had chosen a work station that put himself between Q, M and the door, the only exit. He also had full view of his captives which was probably not a coincidence. R had full control over them and the ability to retain control.

M stared at R for a few moments to see if the man was going to acknowledge him, he appeared to be deeply absorbed in whatever he was doing so perhaps he hadn't noticed M waking. Mallory's gaze returned to Q and he decided to try and rouse the young man. He whispered urgently once before almost jumping out of his skin as R spoke.

"He's out cold I'm afraid." R didn't even tear his gaze from the many monitors he was working with.

_He knows I'm awake then._

"What did you do to him?" Mallory spat out bitterly, unable to keep the heat from his tone. His concerned gaze remained fixed to Q who at least was breathing easy, but Gareth still couldn't get over how pale his friend looked.

R stopped typing and looked up to meet M's glare. He smirked nastily. "He looked like he needed a rest."

Mallory felt his blood run cold, god help R if he got his hands on him. "You heartless bastard."

R ignored the comment entirely and simply got back to whatever he was doing. M watched as the man's eyes darted between multiple screens; his fingers flew deftly over the keyboard. "He's fine. A bit of blood loss but the bleeding's stopped and I even wrapped up his shoulder."

_Did R want a medal for attending to the wounds he caused?_

"He doesn't look fine." M replied coldly, biting back the words he really wanted to utter.

R pondered for a moment then simply shrugged, completely detached to the hurt and pain he had caused.

M didn't react well to the callous action, he was far more than just pissed off at R for betraying Q's trust. "How can you be so indifferent? He was your friend!"

The comment succeeded to get R's attention, he stopped typing abruptly and turned to the pair with fire raging in his eyes. M saw his own hatred mirrored in the glare.

"He took what was rightfully mine." R cruelly spat.

The confession only brought confusion. "What?"

R slammed down his hand on the desk with a thump, his fingers twitched towards the pistol that was not lost on M. "The job! When the old Q died I was meant to become the quartermaster, I was already second in command but then this kid with next-to-no experience leapfrogs to the top."

By the time R finished his rant he was growling, in that instant M saw insanity in the other man's eyes. The jealousy had driven R to this madness and turned him into a traitor. His jealousy had twisted out of proportion and had unfairly landed at Q's door, Henry had only ever shown his second in command respect and he was repaid by this? M felt angry at the injustice of it all. Even though Q was young, he was a genius. M had read up on all the branch managers and had never questioned Henry's appointment. The interview records proved that the correct quartermaster was chosen.

"Q earned that promotion." He fiercely defended his friend as he couldn't do so himself.

R held M's steely glare for a few moments and Mallory saw the man struggle to contain his rage. Eventually R turned his attention back to the computer and huffed in annoyance. "That job was mine and he stole it from me."

"So you turn traitor against your friend, against MI6, against England all because you were passed up for a job?" Mallory felt anger take control over his tongue before his brain could stop him; on reflection he really shouldn't be riling up the guy with a gun.

R's only outward reaction was to bristle at the comment. "I knew then that my loyalty wasn't appreciated here." He smiled proudly. "You could say I decided to branch out."

"You disgust me." Mallory meant it, he felt sick listening to the coward's words and wanted nothing more than to wipe that stupid smile of the man's face…

M tensed as R stopped typing, maybe he had pushed too far. He could almost see the gears working in R's brain as he eyed Mallory menacingly and fought a battle in his mind. M felt his body tense as his senses reacted to the danger, he eyed the gun out of the corner of his eye and felt relieved when R's hands stayed on the mouse and keyboard. R's gaze flicked up and down Mallory before he finally returned his attention to the screens with an audible sigh. M had recognised the look in R's face, the man had wanted to hurt him. Something had held the traitor back though and he was almost certain it wasn't mercy or compassion, so what then?

_Very curious…_

M's eyes were ripped from the hateful being when he heard a noise from his left, Q had just groaned. Mallory's full attention was on the quartermaster immediately as he heard R return to typing. He saw agony flash across Q's face and felt a pang of sympathy for his friend. He grimaced as he eyed the bloody wounds and tried to imagine the misery Q was experiencing now. M couldn't help but feel at least partly responsible, he had failed to keep Q safe.

Mallory waited patiently for Q to come round, eventually he opened his eyes and assessed the situation just as M had. They locked eyes for a few moments and M read the relief on Q's face as he saw Mallory was alive. M stayed silent as Q got the reassurance he needed; no doubt the quartermaster's mind had gone back to past horrors when he had awoken bound to a chair.

He watched as Q switched into quartermaster mode eyes analysing the screens he could see and he began to scrutinise R's movements. Mallory hadn't bothered when he was the only one awake; R could have been hacking into China for all he knew about computers and coding.

"What are you doing?" Q finally asked voice hard and suspicious.

R didn't stop working to answer Q's question. "I'm getting everything I can get my hands on."

_Shit._

Mallory knew Q had put failsafes around their most sensitive data; he had the utmost confidence in the quartermaster but Q was not the only one to know the system inside and out. R may not have been able to get the data without setting off the traps and alerting Q to his identity but now that hardly mattered, R could simply force his way through.

"Why?" Q's voice shook subtly, R may have missed it but Mallory didn't. The question was laden with emotion, Q was asking every question with one word.

"Well, I can hardly turn up to my employers empty handed." R replied absentmindedly, answering the question literally.

R had finally peaked M's attention, the mention of the mysterious employers reminded him of the bigger picture. Someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes and they desperately needed any scrap of information on them, disappointingly so far they had nothing.

"You don't have to go through with this R. We can make a deal, we can protect you." M hated himself as he muttered the words. He didn't want to even consider it after what the man had done to Q, but he couldn't discount the danger of who was really behind all this.

R barked out a laugh. "Please M. You can't even protect yourselves." He looked pointedly over at them.

R suddenly swivelled a screen round so M and Q could see it. "I do hope you weren't relying on your protectors to come to the rescue."

On the screen he soon realised why R looked so giddy. It was a CCTV feed which clearly showed Eve and Bond stuck on one of the floors behind a security door. Bond was currently using his knife on the panel and Eve had her hands hidden in a bunch of wires, both looked angry. R had trapped them.

M gulped and felt hope flee him. He had been inwardly counting off the minutes knowing that Eve would find his absence suspicious soon especially if she couldn't get a hold of him. He had also known it wouldn't take Bond long to miss Q, seeing their friend's predicament he realised there wouldn't be any help coming. They had to take care of this themselves. At least R hadn't harmed them, he felt a horrible feeling well in his chest as he thought of Eve in danger. From Q's reaction he was obviously feeling something similar for Bond.

R revelled in their despondent reactions and proceeded to show security feeds from all around HQ, there were similar scenes everywhere with people stuck behind doors. R had clearly hacked the system and turned it against everyone, security were running down corridors and M realised the cleverness of the plan. Everyone would be so busy dealing with the crisis that his and Q's disappearance wouldn't even be noticed; they would probably just think that the pair were stuck behind a security door somewhere.

"That's the problem with having a secure building, it doesn't just keep people out." R smirked before going back to his work.

M hung his head in resignation R was right. The doors were bulletproof and could withstand a huge force. The only person who was capable of reversing the attack was taped to a chair; the situation wasn't great.

Q broke the silence first. "Why now? We didn't know it was you."

R ignored the question for a few moments as he typed in more commands, he then stood from his seat and sauntered over to his captives. M noticed Q holding his breath as the man came close and they both tensed as he stopped between them. To both their relief R leaned back against a table and crossed his arms non-threateningly.

"I started planning the day you returned. I'm not stupid Q, I saw the way Moneypenny and Bond stuck to you two like glue. It was clear you knew of my existence even if you didn't know my identity. It didn't take you long to put your bloody traps in place, I knew you'd be on to me in no time if I tried pushing past them. I put my plan into action today because you were getting far too close with your investigation, it was only a matter of days before I was discovered and I wanted to do this on my terms."

M felt like a fool as he listened to R explain his actions, he had been one step ahead of them from the beginning.

"So you lured me here so you could get all the data you wanted without worrying about the traps." Q sounded as resigned as Mallory felt they had let this happen under their watch.

R grinned. "You were too paranoid for your own good Q, you four are the only ones who know about a mole and you were the only one who would know the identity of the traitor when the traps were sprung. With you here I'm free to do as I please."

With R spelling it out to them M realised it was a stupid move; in their effort to keep information from the mole and prevent leaks they had given the traitor this opportunity.

"Of course I knew I had to take care of Bond and Moneypenny, they would notice your absence too soon."

M had a sudden thought. "Why am I here?"

R tore his giddy expression from Q's defeated form. "Security are on alert, Q's traps have alerted them to a breach. You are the only one that can walk me out the front door during a security breach."

M laughed darkly. "What makes you think I'm going to walk you out the front door?"

R smiled dangerously then reached into his pocket. "Because of this."

He placed a cylindrical object on the table with a dull thud. The object reminded M of a speaker but it clearly wasn't that; he stared at the device but drew a blank. He almost laughed again at the stupid joke when Q gasped.

"You wouldn't." Q whispered.

Mallory felt his heart race as he witnessed the horror etched on Q's face; whatever this thing was it was clearly very dangerous and most probably destructive.

"Try me." R relied seriously.

The confusion must have been signposted over him as R asked Q to explain what exactly the thing was and how much damage it could do.

Q spluttered at first as he tried to wrap his brain around the latest development. "It's an explosive." He paused and composed himself. "It's one of my latest inventions, still in the prototype stage."

That answered M's question to why he had never seen the device before. R was threatening them with a bomb. Did he think his and Q's lives meant that he would just let him escape with information that could endanger dozens of agents? A nagging sensation didn't leave him though, why was Q so worried?

He eventually asked the question he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to. "Why is it still in the prototype stage?"

"We couldn't control the damage, the catalyst always overpowered the explosive and caused a sort of cascading effect. Just one of those devices placed in the correct place could level a building, it was too unpredictable."

Mallory felt his stomach drop as he heard the terrifying damage that thing could cause, he realised Q still hadn't taken his eyes off the one on the table and if possible the quartermaster looked even paler.

"I have 5, scattered around the building." R added helpfully.

Q's panic took on a whole new level, his wide eyes stared directly into R's face hoping for some sign of a lie. There wasn't one. Mallory felt his fear grow as he saw the horror etched into his friends features.

"Q, how much damage will that do?" M asked urgently desperate to snap Q out of it.

Q looked dazed as his brain worked through the calculations. "It would level the building, kill everyone inside and most probably cause death and injury in a radius outside MI6."

M stared at the small device with disbelief. How could something so small cause so much destruction? It was almost inconceivable.

"Civilian casualties." R clarified completely unnecessarily.

M felt stunned as he watched R pull another device from his pocket' one that Mallory recognised with a growing dread. A dead man's switch.

"You will walk me out the front door or… Boom!"

Mallory's mind raced as he realised the inevitable, R had all the control and had planned out tactically a flawless plan. No matter how hard M thought he couldn't come up with any way to stop the traitor. Q hadn't spoken a word and was still looking at the device on the table; M was worried that his friend was lost within in his mind.

He swallowed the sick feeling as he imagined the devastation that was potentially just seconds away. "How do we know you won't let go of the switch once you get outside the radius?"

M was expecting R to simply say that they'd have to trust him but surprisingly he didn't. He actually indicated for Q to explain why.

Q blinked and visibly returned to his body which was a relief. "The building is protected from external electromagnetic waves. R can detonate the bombs from any where inside the building but that switch becomes useless as soon as he's outside."

Mallory realised this meant unless R was suicidal, which he didn't seem to be, he wouldn't detonate the bombs. The blast radius extended to outside the building so the traitor would have no guarantee of living if he detonated whilst still inside.

"That's another reason I need you M. I need leverage when the bombs become redundant."

M made the decision in a matter of seconds, there was only one choice really. He couldn't sign the death warrants of 100's of people including civilians and R knew that. Besides R had left himself open for attack once he was outside the building, M would order everyone to stand down whilst the bombs were a threat but when it was only his life on the line then everything would change. His life wasn't more important than the information R was stealing.

"So, what's your answer?" R smiled down with a knowing look, he already knew he had won.

_For now…_

"I'll get you out." M replied quietly, shoulders slumped in defeat. He needed R to remain cocky and sure of himself, he needed the man to let down his guard later.

R beamed and clapped M on the shoulder. "Good man."


	4. Chapter 4

A heavy silence settled in the room. Ever since R had revealed the bomb and the existence of others there had been palpable tension in the air. M observed R packing up the hard drives from the computer and starting to pack a bag. He was obviously done with stealing data.

Mallory turned his scrutinising gaze to land on Q. The quartermaster hadn't said a word since R had revealed his plan and had barely taken his eyes off the bomb on the desk, he could see the guilt etched into Q's face. The quartermaster was probably blaming himself for all this mess; it was cruel of R to use something that Q had created against them all.

As much as Q was trying to hide the pain, M saw the signs stamped all over the quartermaster's face. R hadn't even given him painkillers nothing to take the edge off the gunshot wound. Seeing Q's agony stoked the internal fire inside Mallory's gut, and he fought to remain calm as his eyes found the bomb again. For now R held all the cards.

Q and M's attention snapped to the traitor as he picked up the backpack and stalked towards the pair, a nasty looking knife in one hand with a pistol in the other. He aimed the pistol at Q's head and raised his eyebrows with a warning gesture as he approached M's chair; holding the knife out to cut his arm free. Mallory froze as soon as the pistol was aimed at Q, one flinch and he would lose his friend. R sliced through the tape holding his right arm in place swiftly then moved back. The traitor eyed M warily then seemingly coming to a decision flipped the knife round and offered it to Mallory handle first.

M didn't miss the fact that the gun was still pointing at Q's head, as much as he wanted to take the knife and plunge it into R's heart; he knew he couldn't without killing the quartermaster.

"Cut yourself free." R ordered impatiently.

Mallory sighed then took the offered knife. He efficiently sliced through the tape holding his arms, legs and body to the chair. After R insisted he rip the tape off entirely he took a few minutes unwinding it from his body; if R wanted to avoid questions when they left then he shouldn't have tied him up so well.

When M finished he held the knife out expectantly, handle first. R smiled coldly amusement clearly shining from his eyes. "Put it over there, on the table."

Mallory breathed a sigh of relief as R's pistol was now pointed squarely at him. He did as instructed and passed Q to put the knife on the indicated table. He left the knife near the edge and hoped Q would be able to get to it once they left. He needed medical attention pronto.

When M faced R again he immediately tensed. In R's hands was the dead man's switch and the pin had been pulled. He swallowed as the implications sunk in, one flinch and hundreds of people would die. He almost jumped out of his skin as the explosive on the table beeped once, probably activating. He realised then that his heart was beginning to race the sound had suddenly made this whole nightmare real. He noticed that Q had also flinched at the sound; the quartermaster had barely taken his eyes off the thing but the change in state seemed to have shocked him back into the present. He also saw how awfully pale Q looked, that and the clammy skin. The poor kid was going into shock.

R laughed nastily. "I guess I don't need this anymore." With that the pistol was stowed safely inside the man's shoulder holster, effectively hidden from view.

M glared at their captor, the bastard didn't need to enjoy this so much.

R smirked as he saw the reaction his eyes dancing with mirth. "Clean yourself up a bit, can't have too much attention drawn to us now can we?"

Mallory scowled at the jovial tone but nevertheless did as the mad-man instructed. It would be for the best anyway, the last thing they needed was for anyone else to get caught up in this mess there was too many lives at stake for R to release his hold on the trigger. M buttoned his shirt up as well as he could, adjusted his tie and tried to use his jacket to cover up the taser marks. He used a nearby towel to wipe the majority of the blood off his head and hoped his hair covered up the injury well enough; a cursory glance wouldn't reveal anything was wrong and that was all he was likely to get with the security problem.

"You first." R indicated with the hand holding the detonator.

"We can't just leave Q here." M exclaimed powerfully, it was usually a tone that sparked no argument from his subordinates.

R glanced at the quartermaster dispassionately; not one flicker of emotion flashed across the man's face. "He'll be fine. Well… as long as you behave."

The stupid smirk was plastered across the traitor's face. M clenched his fists painfully and felt his body tremble with fury, he had never wanted anything as badly as he wanted to wipe the senseless smirk of R's face. Couldn't this bastard see how much blood the quartermaster had lost? If he went into shock and his body started shutting down then his wound could become fatal, especially if he wasn't found for hours.

Eyeing the detonator M forced himself to calm down. "He's lost a lot of blood."

A feral look morphed R's features and the traitor took a step towards M menacingly. Mallory recognised the madness in the other man's eyes and felt adrenaline coarse through his body as his body reacted to the danger radiating off the man.

"If you don't move, I'll put another hole in him." R growled viscously whilst his fingers moved to grasp his gun.

M almost launched himself at the bastard, the only thing holding him back was the damned detonator. If it had been a gun in the other man's hands it wouldn't have stopped him. He held R's gaze and matched the traitor's hatred for as long as he dare.

"Go M, I'll be fine."

Mallory started as he heard Q's voice it had sounded weak and unlike him. M hadn't heard his friend sound like that since their kidnapping. Gareth tore his enraged stare from R and looked at the still-bound quartermaster. Thankfully he saw something familiar in the pain-wracked eyes, determination. The same determination that Q had shown during their kidnapping. He felt relieved that the quartermaster didn't appear to be deep in shock, Q was back.

M said his silent goodbyes to Q along with a promise; he would do everything in his power to stop R and bring him to justice for what he'd done. He took one last look at Q's resolute expression before turning to open the door. He left the room and noted idly his hand was shaking, most likely from the adrenaline but Mallory had a sneaky suspicion it was fear. He was responsible for every life that was being threatened and as much as he hated every second of it, he would do everything R needed to get him out of HQ where the threat would be neutralised. Mallory stiffened as R's hand landed on his arm and fell into step close to him, it would take every measure of his self control to resist from punching the traitor's lights out let alone stopping anyone else from doing it. As they made their way towards the stairs he prayed to anyone that would listen that 007 remained trapped; that was one disaster he doubted he would be able to control.

* * *

As soon as people started populating the corridors R removed his hand from M's arm, not wanting to act too suspiciously. M could still feel R hovering close by though, one step away from grabbing Mallory again if he needed to. The gun was gladly still out of sight but it wasn't as if the man needed it now anyway. He had all the control he needed with the dead man's switch which stayed safely tucked away in his pocket.

Mallory was actually quite glad there were people around as it had caused R to shut up. The whole way through the basements the traitor had muttered threats in his ear about not warning anyone or acting suspiciously or he would reduce the place to smithereens. As if M needed telling that. He had stayed silent and let the words wash over him; focussing on putting one foot in front of the other instead of the vile creature escorting him.

M deftly ignored curious glances he received as they passed busy people; there was still a lot of chaos in the halls as the security system worked against the employees. As they moved through the building M realised there were people trapped everywhere, the fact caused another problem as evacuation would be impossible. Some people didn't bat an eyelid when they passed and M mused it wasn't unusual for him and R to be walking together in a hurry, especially in a time of crisis. No-one knew how much of a crisis it really was. The locked doors didn't seem to impede their journey though which was clearly planned in advance by R.

As they rounded the corner and found themselves on the last leg of the journey towards the lifts to the exit R's phone beeped. The man checked it and frowned immediately, M caught a glimpse of a CCTV feed before the device was slipped back into the traitor's pocket and his pace increased.

"Problem?" M asked innocently. He needed R as calm as possible whilst they were still in the building.

R glanced nervously around their surroundings. "Bond and Moneypenny have escaped."

Part of Mallory was ecstatic that his agents had escaped but the majority of him was terrified at a possible confrontation, it was unlike Bond to ask questions later he usually shot first. He would have to be on the lookout just as R was and if necessary protect the man; the thought made him feel physically sick but what else could he do with so many lives at stake?

"Nothing has changed, if anyone stands in our way you will order them to stand down." R's wavering voice didn't go amiss, smart man being afraid of Bond.

M sighed heavily, R was right nothing had changed and he needed to calm down now. "Calm down. I'll get you out."

R seemed to relax a notch at the words and seemed even more relieved as they finally reached the lifts that would take them to the underground car park. M used his pass to override the security and after pressing his thumb to the scanner the doors slid open. R punched in the floor and stood tensely at Mallory's side.

They lurched upwards a few floors before it happened. The damned life ground to a halt with a deadly lurch and Mallory had to catch himself before he tumbled to the ground. His heart shot into his mouth as he waited for explosions, he looked at R and thanked whoever was listening that the traitor had managed to keep his hand on the switch which was now out in the open. R looked furious and his suspicious glare landed on M, Mallory feigned ignorance as the man started jabbing buttons on the lift controls. He didn't know for sure but M had a pretty good idea who exactly had stopped their ride up, it had to Bond.

_Well shit._

Mallory forced himself to calm down as the silence dragged out for a few minutes, R acted like a caged animal as he started shouting into the speaker for someone to let them out. Out of know where the lift continued it's ascension. R quickly grabbed M's arm and dragged him forcibly in front of him to act as a human shield, Gareth allowed his body to be manoeuvred and remained still and non-threatening.

His attempts to stay calm were immediately quashed as the hand holding the detonator landed on his chest and he felt a restraining hand on his shoulder, he'd effectively been pinned against R.

"Hands on your head." R hissed urgently.

Mallory complied without question as he eyed the detonator warily; this situation was getting worse by the second. He kept his movements slow and deliberate so he didn't spook R clasping his hands behind his head tightly. He felt his heart race as the lift neared their intended destination. He had no doubt that guns would be awaiting them when they got there, R had been discovered but that didn't change the danger everyone was in. If anything it made the situation extremely more perilous.

The doors finally began to slide open and M held his breath as the hand holding the remote tensed. Unsurprisingly Bond and Moneypenny stood just outside the doors with their guns raised, pointed directly at R's head. Mallory spotted a further two security guards standing behind the deadly agents with stunned expressions plastered over their faces.

Aware of Bond's finger twitching Mallory barked out an urgent order. "Hold your fire!"

Both agents responded instinctively to the authoritative order and thankfully eased their fingers off the triggers, thank god the part of Bond that took urgent orders without question from a superior still existed. Mallory witnessed them both spot the trigger device held tightly in R's shaking hand and saw their expressions harden.

Mallory's keen gaze swept up and down Eve looking for any injuries, thankfully she looked unscathed. He read a question in her gaze and nodded an indication that he was okay. M was brought harshly back to the tense stand off as R shook his shoulder roughly, Mallory took it as a sign to explain.

"He's got a dead man's switch. There's enough explosive to take down the building and a radius outside."

Bond and Moneypenny stared at him as though he had gone completely mad so he eased their concerns for his sanity. "Q confirmed it. You all need to stand down."

Mallory didn't miss Bond's eyes narrowing as he mentioned Q's name, he could see the worry flash across the 00's face before it was expertly hidden. Thankfully the two guards and Moneypenny lowered their weapons, Bond however didn't move his gun an inch from R's head.

"Where's Q?" 007 growled protectively.

R shook M's shoulder again and whispered pressingly into his ear. "You've got 5 seconds."

M started to panic as he saw the resolution in Bond's eyes, whilst he had responded to the initial order without question on instinct he could see that 007 seriously struggled with lowering his weapon to such a threat.

"Bond stand down." He tired again, seeing the agent battle with his internal struggle. "Q's alive, he's downstairs."

The final line was finally enough for Bond to lower his weapon, the vehement expression remained though. M had rarely seen the look he saw in 007's eye now, was this what all his enemies saw before they were snuffed out?

Thankfully M felt the tension begin to uncoil from R and he was suddenly pushed forward out of the lift. M tried not to stumble as the grip on his chest remained strong.

"Back!" R screamed at the guards and agents.

They all did as instructed but the walk to the exit was still a tense one, M was turned as they stepped slowly past the agents so he was always a shield between them and R. They finally reached the exit and R released his hold on M; he remained still and kept his hands where they were as he saw R on his phone one-handed most likely unlocking the security door. M made a split-second decision as R was distracted.

"Q's been shot, he's in the basement lab. His bleeding is under control but he needs medical attention." He felt R tense behind him but the man soon continued with his work as he realised the agents hadn't moved.

Worryingly Bond looked about ready to explode and for a second M was seriously frightened that the agent would carry out vengeance on R.

"Moneypenny. Get Q." Bond growled but didn't take his eyes off R. The agent was going to pursue the threat and M was proud the agent put his remit before his personal feelings. Well, he was sure Bond wanted revenge. The agent didn't know about the dead man's switch not working outside yet but R was about to lose his main leverage over Mallory, he would not stay silent once they left.

007 kept his deadly gaze on R's back as the traitor fiddled with the door. M caught Moneypenny's retreating anxious glance when suddenly he was being dragged roughly backwards and he heard the door open, he forced his hands to stay where they were with effort. Mallory was pulled to a stop just outside the doors and watched silently as the electronic locks turned red, R was most definitely responsible.

_Shit, that will slow Bond down._

M was then spun round harshly and pushed away from the door further into the underground carpark. Mallory half turned and observed R swiftly reinsert the pin into the detonator and drop it, he belatedly realised the pistol was already out and pointed at his mid-section. He held his breath as the switch fell from R's fingertips and clattered to the ground; he only released the breath when the building didn't explode around them.

"Move." R indicated with the gun.

Mallory reluctantly walked where the traitor was indicating. With the pistol the only thing stopping him from launching himself at the traitor he was struggling to resist the urge, self preservation be damned. He felt his muscles tense in preparation for his inevitable attack he needed R to get close so he could take him out. R guided them to a nearby car and it beeped as it was unlocked. M frowned as he noted it was a pool car it would have GPS equipped as standard in it and R knew that.

"One I prepared earlier." R grinned at his own cleverness, M noted the man didn't seem so terrified now that 007 was safely behind a locked door. "GPS is disabled I'm afraid."

When M remained silent and didn't acknowledge the joke; R's expression turned hard. "Up against the car, hands behind your back." R ordered gruffly.

M eyed the gun warily which was now pointing at his head. He slowly did as instructed and readied himself to feel R against him, as soon as the man got close enough he would strike. Mallory turned with lightening-fast speed intending to go for the gun when a sharp jab in his side had him convulsing and falling to the ground, and he felt electricity coarse through him wickedly as the taser caused his body to spasm.

Mallory grunted as he slammed into the floor in a heap his ribs ached and sharp pains radiated from the still-healing bones. Before he could get control of his limbs a knee was pressed into his back and his hands were grabbed roughly. In no time at all his hands were secured with a zip tie.

He was firmly hauled up and powerfully slammed against the car facing R with a gun rested against his forehead. Mallory blinked away vertigo after the sudden movement had him seeing stars; when his vision cleared he was looking into a very irate face. R looked seriously pissed that M had tried to overpower him. M was livid that he had underestimated R, he bloody despised tasers.

"Are you going to behave or are you going in the boot?" R growled impatiently grinding the gun deeper into M's forehead.

Gareth resisted the urge to wince as the gun forced his head backwards under strain. M considered his options quickly he really didn't want to go in the boot. He had to try and talk R out of this and he couldn't do that from confinement; it was the only play he had left.

"I'll be good." He grudgingly replied.

R smiled superficially then roughly pulled M away from the car and spun him round. He opened the back door and forcefully threw his captive in. M groaned as he landed badly, he could feel stitches pulling and bruised ribs take an unwelcome knock. R dumped the bag with the stolen data in it on the front seat started the engine, and sped off out of the car park without bothering to look back at his captive. Mallory tried to make himself more comfortable and managed to turn so he wasn't face down; he swore as his head hit the seat in front when R took a few corners too fast.

In no time they were out in amongst London traffic and M felt depressed as he heard no sign of pursuit, for now. He figured that was planned too. R had crippled MI6 enough to delay any immediate response, but M knew that a few locked doors wouldn't keep 007 out of action for long not with his love for explosives. M hoped more than anything that Eve had found Q and he was getting medical attention. He struggled to get the sight of the quartermaster's blood out of his head.

"You don't have to do this you know?" He doubted appealing to the man's sense of loyalty would do any good but he had to try; as far as he could see R had no regrets about betraying everything he had ever stood for.

R remained quiet and frowned as he concentrated on driving, hyper-vigilant of pursuers as his eyes darted between mirrors.

M pushed harder. "The offer still stands, we can help you."

R's dark gaze suddenly flipped to the rearview mirror and Mallory knew he had failed before aggressive words tumbled out of the traitor's mouth. "Shut-up or I will knock you out."

_Well that ended that conversation._

Mallory laid his head back with a weary sigh resigned to his fate for the moment. His efforts soon switched to escape and he started quietly assessing the tie binding his wrists. Bond better be on his tail soon or he was screwed.


	5. Chapter 5

M watched London go by vacantly as the silence in the car stretched on. A small part of his brain catalogued the surroundings and turnings the vehicle took through the capital, his view was limited to the skyline from his uncomfortable position. The more active part of his mind kept all his attention on R. He had long given up on finding any give in the zip tie and there wasn't anything useful on the back seat to cut the bindings so he was stuck for now. He observed his captor become more relaxed the further away they got from HQ without any sign of pursuit; the man was fidgeting less and his driving was noticeably less erratic.

Mallory wrestled with the idea of trying to talk down R again his instincts were telling him it was the wrong move. Doing so would probably just serve to irritate the traitor again and put him on edge. A relaxed captor was far better than a volatile one. The internal battle was taken out of the equation as Gareth felt the car take a sharp turn then pull to a gentle stop.

He watched R's hand tremble on the steering wheel before moving to switch the engine off. M tensed involuntarily as the traitor picked up the pistol and jumped out of the front seat. Mallory heard the crunch of gravel underfoot as R made his way round to the door by M's head. A few seconds later sun-light flooded the backseat of the car as R yanked the door open.

"Out." He demanded harshly.

M was about to ask how exactly he was going to manage that from his awkward position when a strong grip took hold of his arm and started pulling; his legs scrambled desperately as his upper body was dragged out of the car. Mallory stumbled when his legs dropped from the back seat and would have crashed to the gravel surface had R not caught him; M breathed a sigh of relief after he realised his ribs had escaped another punishing assault.

R grunted as he took M's weight and had to use both arms to steady his captive, Mallory could hardly help with the situation with his hands bound as they were. Soon M was steady enough on his feet so R took the opportunity to push his captive away from him as if suddenly disgusted with the contact. Mallory stumbled forward a few steps but managed to retain his balance.

His keen gaze quickly surveyed their surroundings and came to the conclusion that they were on some kind of construction site, it was deserted. He realised it must be getting close to late evening because the sky was starting to darken, he hadn't envisaged so much time had passed.

Satisfied that they were the only ones in the immediate vicinity, M turned his attention back to his main threat. R had collected the backpack containing the stolen data and was strolling over to Mallory's side gun held loosely at his side.

M recognised a handover when he saw one; curiosity got the better of him so he finally broke the silence. "Seeing as we're going to meeting them soon, can I least know who is behind this."

R scuffed the ground with his feet leading M to think that he was just going to ignore his question entirely. Just as Mallory was going to give up R answered. "Their name is Imperium."

Mallory drew a blank as he mulled the name over, and he was sure he had never heard of it. He glanced back at R and saw the man had started to tremble. "You're scared of them."

R laughed grimly. "You would be too if you knew what they could do."

M realised that was probably why he had laughed in the face of a deal. He was more scared of the mysterious organisation than MI6, in light of the revelation it was no surprise that he had been willing to blow himself up. It had to have been a complete success or he might as well have killed himself.

"It's not too late you know." Mallory whispered earnestly playing on the traitor's fears.

Their attention snapped to the other side of the yard when a van pulled up, dust swirling round the ominous black vehicle as it pulled to a stop. M gulped as he spotted a masked man in the drivers seat no doubt armed to the teeth.

"I rather think it is." R gripped M's arm harshly and his hold on the pistol tightened.

They both waited in tense silence when the van side door opened and two men wearing masks exited; Mallory spied the pistols in the men's grip immediately. He was very quickly becoming completely outnumbered, for the life of him he couldn't see a way out of the oncoming nightmare. Crippling anxiety gripped him as his mind unhelpfully flew back to his kidnapping; he felt the echoes of pain flare through his body and shuddered involuntarily. M shook the thoughts away viscously and resigned himself to his fate, he was about to spend some more quality time with the enemy so he desperately needed to get a bloody grip.

Without any warning a deafening shot rang out across the yard the crack echoing harshly around the confined yard. Mallory's heart leapt into his mouth as the arm holding him was ripped away. He was spun round as a result and watched dazed as R fell to the ground silently. The traitor's lifeless body impacted with a small thump and was still; blood trickled slowly from a point directly between the man's eyes. A perfect head shot.

_Sniper…_

Mallory's mind raced and he tried to catch up to what the hell had just happened, what his eyes were telling him had happened. M forgot to breathe and stumbled backwards from the body a few steps, he wanted to get far away from the corpse. Another shot halted his movements all together, the round ricocheted off the ground less than a meter from his foot. The warning was quite clear; don't move.

He looked around wildly for the sniper's position before his eyes landed on the approaching men, they had almost covered the ground between the van and M. One of the masked men held his gun up and Mallory kept his body rigid when he found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol again. He fought to regulate his breathing as the shock set in, he hadn't expected such a brutal end for the mole. R may have been a traitor but it didn't make it any easier to see him cut down in cold-blooded murder.

The goon not covering Mallory strolled over to R's corpse and picked the dropped bag up from the floor, he then checked the contents efficiently. The pistol in M's face never wavered and he noted the man kept his distance, even if Mallory's hands were free he wouldn't be able to disarm the man quickly enough. The other man was clearly happy with the contents because he walked over to Mallory and pushed him forward away from the body. Gareth noted that both men didn't lay eyes on R's body, not even once.

M allowed himself to be turned around; then hands were patting him down efficiently. The group had always been careful and their actions here proved it, ruthless and professional. He tried to keep his features stoic as he held the masked man's gaze, the events were bringing up far too many painful memories and it was growing hard to resist the panic attack his mind wanted to give into.

The pat down was completed and his bindings checked, without hesitancy the man grabbed his arm and started dragging him forward. The other grabbed his other arm and he was soon frogmarched towards the van. Mallory sadly accepted the turn of events and started to shut his mind off; that was the only way he had any chance of getting though this and not talking.

"We're very excited to show you our hospitality once again M." One of the men whispered when they were half way back to the van. M felt numb, he refused to let the demons in his mind win.

The entourage stopped abruptly as they all heard the revving engine of a motorbike approaching, M watched as the men's hands went to their ears which was when he noticed the earwigs.

He looked over his shoulder to see what the commotion was all about not wanting to give himself any false hope. A wide grin spread across his face when he saw the bike speeding towards them with haste, the rider crashing the party at the perfect moment. 007 had always had good timing.

Mallory observed his two would-be kidnappers exchange a worried look, and then suddenly one of his arms was free as one man ran back towards the van. M heard the driver start the engine and felt confused, how did these guys think they were going to outrun a motorbike?

M was unexpectedly shoved away from the second man. He managed to stay upright and shot the masked man a bewildered look, was this guy giving up? M's confusion ended when the pistol was suddenly brought up and Mallory had less than a second to process the fatal action before the trigger was pulled.

He felt a searing pain tear through his neck and then he fell.

* * *

007 raced into the construction yard on his recently acquired motorbike and his quick mind assessed the scene before him. R's body was on the floor unmoving, dead. M was in the hands of 2 masked men who were dragging him towards a van and the missing data was on said men's back. It took only a few seconds for Bond to take in all the details and acquire his targets, in those seconds he had closed the gap between the men to a couple of hundred yards.

One of the men let go of Mallory and sprinted towards the getaway vehicle. Bond was just reaching for his pistol and applying the brakes, preparing to take out the threat when he saw something unexpected. The last remaining masked man pushed M away from him raised his pistol and fired.

"No!" Bond yelled as he saw the blood splatter and watched M fall to the ground heavily. No, no this couldn't be happening. He couldn't lose another M.

James reached Mallory's fallen body and threw the bike aside, distantly he heard the van's door closing harshly and then gravel flying as the vehicle accelerated off fast. He crouched took aim and fired several shots at the van; cursing as the vehicle quickly sped out of view without taking any lasting damage.

He growled at the retreating van and looked down in dismay at M's body; he quickly saw that M was still alive and identified that the shot had gone straight through Mallory's neck leaving a bloody mess in it's wake. James made a split second decision and rushed over to his boss, pulling his jacket off as he went before clamping the material down onto the neck wound firmly. He watched as M tried to groan, his wild eyes met Bond's and James recognised pain and panic in M's eyes. Mallory was really struggling to breath and he was losing too much blood at an alarming rate.

"Q, I need medics here now!" Bond yelled knowing Q would pick up the desperate request.

He could feel M slipping away beneath his hands no matter how hard he tried to staunch the wound, the bullet must have nicked an artery and god help them if it had damaged the windpipe. Bond was pretty sure it had based on Mallory's continuing struggle to get enough oxygen, and he was gasping now which only served to increase the blood pouring through Bond's fingers.

"On their way, status?"

Bond ignored the way Q's voice shook, the quartermaster had stubbornly refused to go to medical until M was found. Eve had assured him that Q's wounds weren't fatal but that didn't mask the pain he heard in Q's voice.

"M's down, been shot through the neck." He winced as the blood continued to trickle through his fingers, his jacket already soaked through. He applied as much pressure as he dared, knowing that M was already struggling to breathe. "There's a lot of blood Q."

He applied more pressure which caused M to groan and shut his eyes finally, the agony overcoming his battle with consciousness. Bond watched Mallory's chest rise and fall and let out a sigh of relief. He needed M to keep breathing.

"Suspects leaving in black van." Bond felt torn, what was more important M's life or the data? He knew what Mallory would say and he was quite glad the man was unconscious. "If I let go of his neck Q, he'll bleed out."

"Then I suggest you don't let go. 006 is 2 minutes out and we're tracking their vehicle."

Bond felt relieved as he heard the information, he trusted Alec to track down the enemy and retrieve what was theirs. It was in good hands and if Q branch were tracking the vehicle then there was hope. He knew they weren't up to their usual standards after R's internal cyber attack but Q was more than a match for the traitor, another annoying reason why Q refused medical help until the crisis was over.

The agent watched Mallory grow paler and paler and the rise and fall of his chest grow shallower; M was in real trouble.

"Q where's the bloody medics? M hasn't got time for this." He tried to keep the panic out of his voice but was clearly unsuccessful.

Q's calm voice helped to ground him a little. "Chopper is 1 minute out Bond, just keep him holding on."

James swore. "He's not conscious."

"Shit." Q's worry finally seeped through and it drove Bond onwards to keep his friend alive.

Bond finally heard a helicopter approaching and watched it's flight path like a hawk, every second dragged out in that moment as M slipped away beneath his hands. He kept one hand pressed against the wound and used his other to search for a pulse in M's wrist; he eventually found one although it felt erratic.

"I can see the helicopter." His tone was far more clipped than he intended; he was getting over the shock of the situation and allowing anger to cloud his thoughts.

"Good. Also 006 is catching up so don't worry about the data."

The data wasn't James' main concern. He was more pleased that the bastards that did this weren't going to get away even after their desperate tactic to fatally shoot Mallory. 007 released the dark thoughts swirling around his mind as the helicopter landed quickly and medics swarmed out. Bond felt M's pulse start to weaken beneath his fingers and felt panic creep through his defences.

"Hurry up!" He yelled at the men.

The next few moments were a blur as a medic took over his position and continued to apply pressure to the wound, he was then pushed out the way completely by the medics. He watched silently as the team transferred Mallory to a board, inserted IV and blood lines efficiently and picked him up. The whole transfer is over in less than a minute and soon M was on board the helicopter being poked and prodded by multiple sets of hands.

Bond watched the chopper take off with a distant look in his eyes, he imagined he was displaying a few symptoms of shock and strove to pull himself together. He pushed away another unwelcome emotion, failure, guilt. He hadn't felt like this since the old M had died in his arms, he should have done more to protect both of them.

The agent shook the dangerous thoughts away and turned his attention to R's corpse. He walked over to the pale man and stared down at the bullet wound with as much detachment as he could muster. Bond felt enraged that the traitor behind all this pain got off so easily. A quick death was not what the bastard deserved after what he did to Q, to M, to all of them.

He was interrupted by Q's quiet voice in his ear, a voice that sounded exhausted and in considerable pain. "James."

"Yes." He replied immediately and absent-mindedly looked down at all the blood on his hand's, M's blood.

"We've got the data, but the suspects are all dead."

_Shit,_ the data was good but they really needed to question the people. They had no leads on this mystery puppet master.

"Couldn't Alec control himself?" James asked bitterly.

"They shot themselves." Q responded with a sigh and James noted again how tired the quartermaster sounded.

The news shocked James. Whoever their employer was they would rather die than risk giving anything away. "Well shit."

"Indeed." Q replied.

"Q?" Bond growled. He'd had enough with hearing people in pain today.

"Yes James." The tone was innocent as if Q thought he could fool anyone that he wasn't seconds away from collapsing.

"Get to medical or I'll kill you myself." The threat held no heat which Q recognised immediately as he chuckled.

They were both interrupted by Eve. "I've already sedated him."

"Hey what?…" Q's voice trailed off followed by a dull thud. Bond grinned as he imagined the scene taking place in Q branch, he would have to look over the CCTV later.

"Thanks Eve, I owe you one." What would he do without Moneypenny?

She laughed. "Yes you do." There was a pause and James sobered as he recognised the apprehension and worry accompanying her next words. "How was he James?"

Bond glanced down at the blood covering his hands and relived the panic in M's eyes, the desperate gasps for breath. He shut his eyes and obliterated the unhelpful memories. He decided he would not lie to Eve; he knew she had grown fond of their boss.

"It's bad Eve." His heart clenched as he heard a minute sob over the earpiece. "He's with the right people though."

Eve sniffed and quickly composed herself switching back to professional employee in no time at all. "Come home 007."

James made no comment at the approach, he knew it was what they both needed to make it through this nightmare. They both fell back on their training and became simply agents again. "Yes ma'am."

He switched off the comms channel and observed the clean up crew arrive. They busied themselves with sealing off the area and began to collect evidence and cover up R's body. Content that the operation was in able hands, James picked up the bike and headed back to HQ ignorant to the blood that was still dripping from his fingers.


	6. Chapter 6

Mallory stirred and his brain latched onto a steady beeping that was surprisingly soothing, the next thing he was aware of was the feeling of something warm in his hand. He soon worked out it was someone else's hand; it felt limp in his. The smell of antiseptic assaulted his nostrils and he groaned as he realised where he was, back in medical.

M opened his eyes slowly and was thankful his head didn't pound as much as his last awakening in this blasted place, he had made a rather nasty habit of becoming a frequent visitor to the medical team. His blurry sight cleared quickly and he saw that he had been correct in his assessment of what he was holding, it was a hand. He carefully followed the arm up to it's owner and felt a small jolt of surprise as he recognised Eve. She was fast asleep in a chair by his bedside, M's heart melted as he watched her chest rise and fall and smiled at the position she had fallen asleep in.

The effort of smiling proved too much for his neck muscles, he winced harshly as fiery pain shot from the wound. The last thing he remembered before he woke up here was a gun in his face, the searing pain of a shot and not being able to breathe. He was pretty sure he had begun choking on his own blood…

His brain joined the dots and he realised he must have been shot in the throat, which meant he was lucky to be alive. It was then he remembered Bond appear above him, the agent pressing down against him and shouting something that M couldn't hear. The usual unflappable agent had looked worried.

"I've already got pictures." Bond's amused voice drifted through his thoughts from his left.

Mallory turned his head carefully and saw 007 smirking, indicating to Eve's hand in M's. He then noticed Q in the bed next to his. The quartermaster had his arm in a sling and was sitting upright with a chess piece in his hand, from the look of concentration skewing the young man's features he was clearly working out his next move against Bond.

Q noticed the attention on him and was brought out of his daze. The confused features were replaced immediately as the quartermaster's eyes landed on M. Q was happy that M was awake and mostly okay.

M felt relief flood his system as he saw Q looking far better than when he left him, he had much more colour in his face now and his features weren't racked with pain. His face had a rather nasty bruise though. The two men observed each other in silence, there would be time for talk later. They simply nodded and felt happy that they were both in one piece, physically at least. M finally latched onto Bond's attempt at humour; the agent was trying to keep things light to keep them all from the macabre memories.

M looked between Bond's smirk and Eve's sleeping form. He chuckled then grimaced as it pulled at his throat. _This was going to get rather tedious._

"Blackmail… Really 007?" He managed to rasp the words, his voice sounded horrendous.

Bond just replied with a grin and a mischievous glint sparkled in his eye. He indicated to Eve with his eyes. Mallory felt Eve's hand twitch in his and turned to see Moneypenny wake up, she seemed to notice where her hand was and then that M was awake. She looked embarrassed and her face flushed as she quickly snatched her hand away. She glared over at Bond who was doing a very bad job of pretending he hadn't seen anything. Q was doing an even more rotten job though and couldn't help but let a snigger out.

"Sir." She coughed and sat up stretching out after the awkward sleeping position. M felt his heart warm as he realised how long she must have been at his bedside.

"You didn't have to stay Moneypenny." He coughed part way through and was grateful when she handed him some water that soothed his damaged throat.

"I wanted to." She replied with a warm smile, forgetting about her previous embarrassment.

Mallory felt his heart flutter as he lost himself in that smile, it was so genuine and he felt blessed that she had wanted to stay. Perhaps she did enjoy his company as much he enjoyed hers. "Thank you."

Moneypenny smile morphed and she grew somber as her eyes found the wound on his neck. "I'm just sorry I couldn't do more."

"R betrayed us all." Mallory reached a hand up and touched the offending wound. There was nothing she could have done, they had all been played. "What happened?"

She stared at his neck and he observed her hands clench slightly, she was holding back anger. "They shot you to try and get away, the bullet tore through your neck and hit an artery. You had the doctors worried for a while."

Mallory gulped as he remembered the horrifying feeling of drowning in his own blood, it had burned more than anything he'd ever experienced. He suddenly realised that James had saved his life _again._

"I owe you my life again 007." Bond glanced up from the chess board, he had been about to place a piece.

The agent's striking eyes sought Mallory's and his face grew serious. Something flashed across Bond's face before it was expertly contained, he couldn't be sure but 007 had looked guilty, sick with worry.

"It's my job M." The delivery should have been cold, professional to accompany the words but they were anything but. Mallory picked up on the compassion and warmth in his friend's voice and knew Bond had taken the role far more seriously than his employment required.

Gareth felt oddly embarrassed. "Well thank you."

A sly smile twitched upon the agent's face as he witnessed M's self-conscious tone. Bond's bright blue eyes danced mischievously as the man placed the chess piece down which caused Q to groan loudly. Mallory didn't know all that much about chess but from Q's reaction he could guess that 007 had just played an unexpected move. M filed away the curious revelation for later, who knew Bond could give the quartermaster a run for his money over a game of chess?

He turned his attention back to Eve. "What happened to the information R stole?"

She jumped slightly at the interruption, she had probably been just as enthralled at the sight of Bond playing chess as he had. "All the stolen data was recovered. Unfortunately the men taking it killed themselves rather than risk capture."

M swore inwardly as he heard the bad news, with R dead the information well had run dry. Back to square 1, well not quite…

"That means this isn't over." Bond interrupted grimly.

M hummed in agreement and watched carefully as James' hand twitched towards his concealed pistol, Bond was going to worry him over the upcoming weeks. He would have to make sure to sit down with him at some point; try to stop the agent from imploding after the latest events. Mallory knew 007 was protective, to the point of losing control. After the latest harm befallen on Q, M was seriously worried about how long Bond could keep a lid on his raging emotions.

He was interrupted from the unpleasant thought train before his mood dipped completely. "Looks like you've got a bodyguard for a while sir." Mallory couldn't help but selfishly love the idea of Eve staying with him longer; but he couldn't rob her of her personal life anymore.

"That's not necessary Eve, you've got your own life." He replied growing sadder as the words tumbled from his lips.

Bond and Q chose that moment to interrupt and snorted again unhelpfully. The pair were both innocently playing chess as he and Moneypenny glared at them in unison.

Eve took his hand in hers and he gazed into her kind eyes. "Of course it is you're still in danger, and anyway the Doctors won't release you if there's no-one at home."

M sighed inwardly as she explained only work related reasons, he couldn't ask he to sacrifice her own time for just that. She must have read something in his eyes as she continued. "Besides I've quite enjoyed our time together."

Mallory searched her face and saw instantly that she truly meant it. "Me too." He whispered giving her hand a warm squeeze in return.

Mallory felt something flutter in his stomach and revelled in the heartfelt words. They stared into each others eyes and the moment was perfect, intimate; until it wasn't.

"Get a room you two." Bond groaned.

M shut his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. The perfect moment was obliterated as quickly as it had appeared, he had forgotten they weren't alone. "007 if you don't shut up I'll have you assigned to timbuktu." He glared over at the smirking agent.

"Sorry." He directed the apology at Eve. The apology was genuine enough for M to let the matter go.

Eve smiled affectionately at Mallory then with noticeable regret withdrew her hand from his. She got out her laptop and started typing.

"So, back to the drawing board." Q finally broke the silence with a voice that was drowned in defeat.

"Not quite." M replied remembering the name R had told him before his death. "R told me his employer's name before he died."

Everyones attention was peaked. Bond, Q and Eve's gaze were all on him; chess match and laptop forgotten.

"They're called Imperium."


End file.
